Taipei Main Train Station redevelopment will be one of the most complex development in Taiwan. It has three different type of railway system on its basement, MRT, Taiwan Railway and High Speed Rail. It handles 60,000 passengers in weekdays and 100,000 people in weekend. Closing entire train station and redeveloping it will be very tough decision. It might need billions dollar to get entire redevelopment done.

Taipei, Nov. 23 (CNA) The Xinyi Line on Taipei City's mass rapid transit system was inaugurated Saturday, extending MRT travel from downtown areas of the city to Xiangshan near Elephant Mountain on the outskirts.

The east-west line essentially follows Xinyi Road, starting at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and running through stations at Dongmen, Daan Park, Daan, Xinyi, Anhe, and Taipei 101/World Trade Center to the final stop at Xiangshan.

After the inauguration ceremony, President Ma Ying-jeou and Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin took a test ride on the line from Daan Park Station to Xiangshan.

Noting that the new line was completed one month short of eight years, Hau said it offers residents greater convenience and will contribute to better functioning of the city.

He said that, for example, the Daan Park station features green infrastructure and will host cultural performances from time to time.

Taipei Rapid Transit Corp., which operates the metro system, will offer free rides on the Xinyi Line for one month after the line begins public operations Sunday, the mayor said.

In addition, 94 shops along the line, in collaboration with the Taipei City government, will offer passengers up to 50 percent discount on goods and services.

President Ma said that while the new line is only 6.4-km long, it runs through one of the busiest areas of the city, which made the construction difficult.

Ma expressed gratitude to Taipei residents for their forbearance during the project, which cost NT$33.8 billion (US$1.14 billion).

Ma and Hau also paid a tribute to the workers, including two Thai nationals, who died on the project.

(By Kelven Huang, Huang Li-yun and Lilian Wu)

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This is so great!!! I have been looking forward to this for the longest time! Definitely will ride it and check out every station next year when I go to Taiwan!
Xinyi Line is very closed to where I used to live.

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One thing about Asia is that all of their metros are so modern compared with the rest of the world. The pictures of the Xinyli Line look cool. I`m hoping of going to China one dasy and get rail photos of my own.

I was just in Taipei and didn't realize that the Red Line extension to Xiangshan was so new. What I found strange is that the line doesn't connect to the Blue Line, as now people from eastern Taipei have to take a long route and change twice to reach Taipei 101 area. Or then walk from Taipei City Hall station, which is not so convenient.

Is this extention being planned for future implementation?

It was also sad that one still had to take the cumbersome airport bus to reach the city. I cannot wait until the airport MRT starts running!

I was just in Taipei and didn't realize that the Red Line extension to Xiangshan was so new. What I found strange is that the line doesn't connect to the Blue Line, as now people from eastern Taipei have to take a long route and change twice to reach Taipei 101 area. Or then walk from Taipei City Hall station, which is not so convenient.

Is this extention being planned for future implementation?

It was also sad that one still had to take the cumbersome airport bus to reach the city. I cannot wait until the airport MRT starts running!

Yeah, the circular line eastern portion is suppose to intersect the red, blue, brown, and green line. However, I believe it will be the last of three phases of the circular line to be built, so I highly doubt it will be completed within the next 10 years as they are still building phase 1.

Good to hear. From Wikipedia I got the impression that the Red Line would not be planned to continue any further, which would not make sense. Good to hear that this will eventually happen, even if much later in the future.

Only 40% of people live in Taipei Metro use public transport. It is below Hong Kong, Toyko and Singapore. Main reason for lower percentage of people using is because riding scooter is cheaper and more convenient than taking public transport.

Good to hear. From Wikipedia I got the impression that the Red Line would not be planned to continue any further, which would not make sense. Good to hear that this will eventually happen, even if much later in the future.

Red line eastern extension is currently under construction. It will add two more station to the east. The long term plan has the line extending further east with 2 additional stations.

North-south connection to all 3 east-west lines will be part of the circulation line as already noted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by williamchung taiwan

Only 40% of people live in Taipei Metro use public transport. It is below Hong Kong, Toyko and Singapore. Main reason for lower percentage of people using is because riding scooter is cheaper and more convenient than taking public transport.

To be fair, some of most populated parts of New Taipei City are not yet connected to the Metro system and the system is still missing some critical components like the circular line and the light rail network that would make the system a lot more functional.

Also, Taipei's bus system is kind of a mess. It could be much more efficient but the two city Govt (Taipei and New Taipei) aren't on the same page and have competing agendas.

And lastly, as you noted, Govt policy on scooter drives people's commuting choice. If Taiwan ever decides to actually enforce emission controls on scooter (which will make buying and operating one much more expensive) or eliminates the *free* parking for scooters on public street sidewalks, metro usage will go up just like in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo.